PVMA BLOG

Below are some talking points regarding opioids and veterinary medicine, provided by the AVMA.

​Veterinarians are acutely aware and gravely concerned that the United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic.

Veterinarians want to be an active partner in an effective strategy to combat this growing problem.

Proposed solutions to managing the epidemic must support the ability of veterinarians to appropriately care for their patients. Appropriate care includes pain management, and opioids are an important part of managing pain in veterinary patients. Therefore, it’s critically important that veterinarians’ access to – and their ability to responsibly use – these drugs be retained.

Veterinarians are trained in the appropriate selection, use, handling, and prescribing of medications for their patients, and this includes opioids.

While the concern related to abuse of opioids has gathered attention in the media, a 50-state survey* of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) identified fewer than 10 “veterinary shoppers” per year nationwide. And, in looking at the stories that have most recently been shared in the media, one quickly finds that the same pets and owners are repeatedly described, which does not validate an epidemic of ‘vet shopping.’

Obtaining the opioid is not a simple process. A veterinary visit must occur with the establishment of a VCPR, the veterinarian must determine if opioids are part of the appropriate treatment, and the opioid must be secured via prescription at a pharmacy or dispensing from the veterinarian.

There are significant complications related to the PDMPs that pose challenges to the efficiency and accuracy of the information that is sought:

Owners can provide false information;

Pets can have multiple owners and be owned by multiple households;

Pet owners can authorize others (e.g., groomers, pet-sitters) to take pets to the veterinarian for care, which expands the field of individuals whose histories may need to be researched.

Some software selected by state regulators for PDMPs does not accommodate veterinary patients well.